Capuchino-San Bruno football team gets back to work

In the wake of Thursday’s deadly gas explosion that destroyed an entire San Bruno neighborhood two miles from campus, the Capuchino High football team will attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy when it takes the field 1 p.m. Saturday at home against visiting Christopher of Gilroy.

“We’ll find out a lot about ourselves as a football team and individually,” Capuchino coach Jordan Seiden said. “We can fold and run, or we can step up and face it. It’s an opportunity to do something to rally the community, and take their minds off a terrible situation.”

A day after the blast, administrators canceled the scheduled opener against South San Francisco Friday night. The decision was supported by about half the team, Seiden said.

“Honestly, it was tough for the team to prepare for something since June, and be all amped and excited for the game, and not be able to play it,” Seiden said. “And there were those who accepted the decision and understood how difficult it was for everybody.”

Though no varsity players or coaches were directly affected by the blast, other than some damage to property, just about all knew someone who was. Many players spent much of the past week helping at the Red Cross, or in other ways. Seiden is concerned that the players will be emotionally drained come game time.

“We can let the emotion get to us, or we can step up to face it and rally around each other and the program,” he said. “And give the community something to believe in.”

David Kiefer, a 20-year Bay Area journalist whose award-winning stories appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Examiner and Santa Cruz Sentinel, writes on all topics related to the Peninsula and Central Coast Section for sfgate.com.